U.S. patent number 5,529,528 [Application Number 08/296,682] was granted by the patent office on 1996-06-25 for saw blade with sanding surface.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Vaporless Manufacturing, Inc.. Invention is credited to Penrod C. Geisinger, Gregory E. Young.
United States Patent |
5,529,528 |
Young , et al. |
June 25, 1996 |
Saw blade with sanding surface
Abstract
A saw blade includes a very shallow cone shaped side for
supporting an abrasive surface to sand smooth a cut surface of a
work piece while the surface is being cut by the saw blade. To
maintain the finished sanded surface of the cut perpendicular to a
specified axis of the work piece, the axis of rotation of the saw
blade is tilted to place a radial of the cone shaped abrasive
surface orthogonal in three axis to the direction of saw cut being
made.
Inventors: |
Young; Gregory E. (Chino
Valley, AZ), Geisinger; Penrod C. (Prescott Valley, AZ) |
Assignee: |
Vaporless Manufacturing, Inc.
(Prescott Valley, AZ)
|
Family
ID: |
23143079 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/296,682 |
Filed: |
August 26, 1994 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
451/28; 451/461;
76/112; 83/676; 83/837 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B23D
61/026 (20130101); B24D 7/18 (20130101); Y10T
83/9324 (20150401); Y10T 83/9403 (20150401) |
Current International
Class: |
B23D
61/00 (20060101); B24D 7/00 (20060101); B24D
7/18 (20060101); B23D 61/02 (20060101); B24B
001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;451/69,70,461,182,241,552,540,462 ;541/542,548 ;76/112
;83/837,469,676 ;125/15 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3030833 |
|
Feb 1982 |
|
DE |
|
8056725 |
|
Apr 1983 |
|
JP |
|
0821136 |
|
Apr 1981 |
|
SU |
|
Primary Examiner: Rose; Robert A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Cahill, Sutton & Thomas
Claims
We claim:
1. Apparatus for cutting and finishing a surface of a work piece,
said apparatus comprising in combination:
a) a rotary saw blade having teeth disposed along its perimeter for
making a cut in the work piece and for forming a surface on the
work piece;
b) a shallow cone shaped surface disposed on at least one side of
said rotary saw blade;
c) abrasive material disposed upon said cone shaped surface for
finishing the formed surface on the work piece; and
d) said cone shaped surface including a depression for receiving
said abrasive material.
2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the thickness of
said abrasive material is greater than the depth of said
depression.
3. A method for cutting and finishing a surface of a work piece
with a rotary saw blade, said method comprising the steps of:
a) cutting a kerf in the work piece with the teeth of the rotary
saw blade;
b) sanding the cut surface in the work piece with abrasive material
disposed on a shallow cone shaped surface of the saw blade, said
cone shaped surface defining a cone angle; and
c) rotating the saw blade about an axis of rotation offset from the
plane of the surface to be sanded in the work piece by an angle
commensurate with the cone angle of the cone shaped surface.
4. The method as set forth in claim 3 wherein said step of cutting
is performed with offset teeth.
5. The method as set forth in claim 3 including the step of
orienting the rotary saw blade to place a radial lying in the cone
shaped surface in the plane of the finished surface of the work
piece and orthogonal in two axis to the relative direction of
travel between the rotary saw blade and the work piece.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to saw blades and, more particularly,
to rotary saw blades incorporating an abrasive surface for
simultaneously cutting and finishing the surface of a work
piece.
2. Description of Prior Art
Saw blades for use with rotary saws include offset or non-offset
teeth. If offset teeth are employed, the kerf is wider than the
thickness of the saw blade which wastes material but prevents
binding between the work piece and the saw blade. The smoothness of
the cut surface in the work piece is generally a function of the
size of the teeth, the configuration of the teeth, and the number
of teeth per unit of circumference. Generally, a fine toothed
rotary saw blade will make a more finished cut than a coarse
toothed saw blade. The latter, however, provides a more rapid cut,
and is therefore preferable in many applications. Depending upon
the purpose of the work piece, saw cuts made therein may have to be
sanded smooth or finished by an abrasive tool, such as sandpaper.
This step adds to the costs of making the saw cut in terms of
additional equipment being required, the costs attendant a workman
sanding the cut and costs attendant more time required to construct
the finished product. If it were possible to eliminate the extra
step of sanding the cut surface in the work piece, significant
savings could be realized.
Various attempts have been made to incorporate an abrasive or a
sanding element with a rotary saw blade. Such attempts include the
forming of teeth on a side of a saw blade; if such teeth do not
extend laterally beyond the plane of the cut being made, they
cannot serve their purpose. Abrasive elements and sanding disks
have been added to a side of a saw blade to perform a finish
sanding function commensurate with a saw cut being made. Because
such abrasive materials, sandpaper, or even teeth extending from
the side of a saw blade contact the work piece at the perimeter of
the abrasive, sandpaper or teeth, the peripheral edge performs most
of the sanding function. This causes rapid wear due to a high
concentration of forces present at the perimeter or peripheral
edge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A rotary saw blade includes a shallow cone shaped surface for
supporting a shallow cone of sandpaper, abrasive material or other
element capable of performing a sanding function as it passes
across a work piece. By orienting the axis of rotation of the
rotary saw blade to place a radial of the sanding surface
orthogonal to two axis of the direction of travel of the saw blade
past the work piece, the cut surface of the work piece will come in
contact with a significant area of the sanding surface. Due to the
angular orientation of the sanding surface, material of the work
piece will be gradually sanded away until a flat smooth surface
angularly oriented with the work piece at a predetermined angle is
achieved. Because a significant part of the sanding surface
simultaneously performs the sanding function, wear will be
relatively uniform.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to
provide a rotary saw blade for cutting and sanding smooth a cut
surface made in a work piece.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary saw
blade having a sanding surface acting relatively uniformly across a
cut surface made in a work piece.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a
rotary saw blade having a shallow cone shaped surface supporting a
sanding surface.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a
rotary saw blade for finishing a cut surface of a work piece.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rotary
saw blade for cutting and finishing any angled cut surface made in
a work piece.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a
rotary saw blade having offset or teeth with a sanding surface to
perform a sanding function on a cut surface being made.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a
method for cutting and finishing a surface of a work piece with a
rotary saw blade.
These and other objects of the present invention will become
apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof
proceeds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described with greater specificity
and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a rotary saw blade having a cone shaped sanding
surface for making a finished cut surface in a work piece;
FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the angular orientation of a
rotary saw blade having a shallow cone shaped surface with respect
to a work piece;
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a shallow cone shaped rotary
saw blade having a sanding surface;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a rotary saw blade having a
shallow cone shaped side and a planar obverse side;
FIG. 5 is a partial cross sectional view illustrating the outer
perimeter of a sanding surface formed on a rotary saw blade;
FIG. 6 is a partial cross sectional view illustrating the inner
perimeter of a sanding surface formed on a rotary saw blade;
and
FIG. 7 is a detailed view taken within circle 6 illustrated in FIG.
5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional work table
10 for use in conjunction with a rotary saw blade. The work table
includes a slot 12 through which a rotary saw blade extends to
perform a cut upon a work piece 14. As particularly shown in FIG.
2, work table 10 may include a fence 16 against which work piece 14
is transported past the rotary saw blade. Rotary saw blade 20
embodying the present invention includes conventional teeth 22
disposed along its perimeter. These teeth may be offset or not,
depending upon the type and nature of the cut to be performed.
The basic structure and configuration of rotary saw blade 20 will
be described with joint reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The rotary
saw blade includes a generally shallow cone shaped surface 24
defining a cone angle preferably in the range of 1.degree. to
3.degree. off a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the
rotary saw blade. This cone shaped surface may be wholly or
partially covered by an abrasive material 26 generally defining a
shallow cone shaped disk. The abrasive material may be an apertured
disk of sandpaper, abrasive particulates bonded to cone shaped
surface 24, teeth formed in cone shaped surface 24, or the
like.
Rotary saw blade 20 may be formed from a circular disk that has
been made dish shaped by metal forming machinery or machined to
size and configuration. It includes a central flat roundel 28 with
a radius extending from F to D and an aperture 29 with a radius
extending from F to E. A ring 30 extending radially from D to B may
be formed or machined to a dish shape having a shallow cone
defining cone shaped surface 24. A peripheral radial band 32
extending from radius B to radius A is flat and parallel with a
plane defined by roundel 28; band 32 also includes teeth 22. The
back side of ring 30 extending radially between C and B may be
thinned toward the perimeter to provide a concentric surface 34
lying in a plane parallel to roundel 28. In its simplest form,
rotary saw blade 20 may be formed from a constant thickness disk
having discrete angularly related concentric sections defined by
roundel 28, ring 30 and band 32. Such disk can be formed into the
shape sought by conventional metal forming techniques.
Alternatively, rotary saw blade 20 may be formed from a disk blank
by machining a shallow cone shaped surface 24 on one side extending
radially from roundel 28, or from aperture 29, to a point short of
the teeth or including the teeth and leaving the obverse side 36
planar, as shown in FIG. 4.
Referring jointly to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, details of rotary saw blade
20 will be described. A shallow radially extending depression 50 is
formed in cone shaped surface 24 and defined by outer circular wall
52 and inner circular wall 54. This depression is filled with a
composition of abrasive material 26. Alternatively, an aperture
disk of sandpaper or other element having a sanding or finishing
function when passed across a work piece can be employed. To
prevent protruding edge 56 of abrasive material 26 from performing
a major part of the sanding function due to contact between the
work piece and the protruding edge, the edge should not extend
sufficiently to come into contact with the cut surface being made
in the work piece by the teeth of the saw blade, which cut is
represented by line 58. That is, the kerf to be cut can be wider
than the width of band 32 by incorporation offset teeth 22, as
illustrated in FIG. 5. Since, it may be easier to form the abrasive
material 26 to an essentially constant thickness, there will be a
protruding edge 57 of the abrasive material adjacent roundel 28. As
this part of the abrasive material is essentially non-working,
protruding edge 57 will have no effect upon the work piece. It is
to be understood that the use of depression 50 is not inherently
necessary as the abrasive material, whether a composition, sanding
disk or the like can be formed directly upon or attached to surface
24 without a depression.
The operation of saw blade 20 will be described with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2. For purposes of the following description, it is
assumed that work table 10 is a horizontal surface upon which work
piece 14 is placed. A mandrel or arbor 60 penetrably engages
aperture 29 and supports rotary saw blade 20 between a pair of
washers 62, 64. The rotary saw blade is secured in place by nut 66
in threaded engagement with threaded shaft 68 disposed at the end
of arbor 60. The axis of rotation 70 of arbor 60 is offset
downwardly vertically from a horizontal plane 72 by an angle
.alpha.. The angle .alpha. is equivalent to the cone angle of cone
shaped surface 24. Thereby, a radial of the cone shaped surface
extending vertically upwardly from the axis of rotation of arbor 60
will be perpendicular in three axis to work table 10. This radial
is represented by line 74, as shown in FIG. 1. As this radial lies
in the plane of the finished surface, the finished surface will
extend vertically upwardly from the work table, as represented by
the 90.degree. angle. The cut made in scrap 18 of work piece 14 is
represented by cut 76 which is coincident with the corresponding
edge of teeth 20 defining line 40, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The
angle of cut 76 is off vertical by an amount equivalent to the cone
angle of the rotary saw blade and represented by 90.degree. minus
angle .alpha..
More generally, and irrespective of whether the finished surface is
to be perpendicular to the work table, the following criteria
should dictate the orientation of the axis of rotation relative to
the reference plane defined by the work table. The axis of rotation
of the rotary saw blade should be oriented to place a radial of the
abrasive surface orthogonal in two (2) axis to the relative
direction of travel between the rotary saw blade and the work
piece. This will define the plane of the finished surface of the
work piece.
As work piece 14 passes to the right, as shown in FIG. 1 in view of
the counterclockwise rotation of saw blade 20, a saw cut 80 will be
made to separate scrap 18 (on the far side of the saw blade). The
saw cut in the work piece, as represented by line 58 in FIG. 5,
will come into contact with abrasive material 26 at some point past
edge 56 depending upon the amount of lateral offset of teeth 22.
The totality of the cut surface of the work piece will be abraded,
or sanded by abrasive material 26 to a varying depth depending upon
the difference in lateral distance between each point on cut line
58 (see FIG. 5) in the work piece and a point on line 74 in
alignment therewith in a plane parallel to work table 10. The
portion or working area of abrasive material 26 actually performing
the sanding function is represented by a section extending upwardly
from work table 10 and having a rear limit defined by line 74. This
section is designated by numeral 82 and identified by the parallel
lines instead of by the stippling identifying the remaining surface
of the abrasive material.
As will be evident to those skilled in the art, a cut surface other
than vertical in work piece 40 can be achieved. A cut at any angle
can be set by simply tilting arbor 60 in the vertical plane to the
angle desired for the cut and then adding a number of degrees to
the tilt angle equivalent to angle .alpha..
While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in
an illustrative embodiment, there will be immediately obvious to
those skilled in the art many modifications of structure,
arrangement, proportions, elements, materials and components used
in the practice of the invention which are particularly adapted for
specific environments and operating requirements without departing
from those principles.
* * * * *